Method of producing chemicals in electric furnaces.



PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905.

. E. R. TAYLOR. METHOD 0F PRODUCING CHEMICALS IN ELECTRIC FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1902.

PATENTED NOV. 28,V 1905.

E. R. TAYLOR. METHOD OI' PRODUCING CHEMICALS IN ELECTRIC FURN ACES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD R. TAYLOR, OF PENN YAN, NEW YORK-` Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1905.

Original application filed April 4, 1901, Serial No. 54,328. Divided andthis application filed January 24, 1902. Serial No. 91,114.

operations, in a novel process of making bisulfid of carbon with the aidof such electrodes, and in certain features of such process available ineffecting other reactions and reductions in electric furnaces, ashereinafter set forth and claimed.

A leading object of this invention is to provide an electric furnacewith self-renewing electrodes adapted to perpetuate themselves in thecontinuously-working furnace and to feed themselves by gravity.

Two sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of an electricfurnace suitable for carrying into effect the present invention, showingthe same charged and in operation; and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionthrough such furnace empty in a plane at an angle of fortyfive degreesto that of the plane of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal sectionthrough one side of the empty furnace on the broken line 3, Fig. 1. Fig.4 represents a horizontal section through the empty furnace on thebroken line 4, Fig. 2, indicating the planes of Figs. 1 and 2,respectively, by broken lines 1 and 2. Fig. 5 represents a sectionthrough one of the electrode-conduits, on a larger scale; and Fig. 6 isa perspective view of one of the electrode-conduits detached.

Like letters and numbers refer to like parts in all the figures.

The furnace above referred to and hereinafter incidentally described isthe subject-Inatter of a companion specification forming part of anapplication for United States patent led the 4th day of April, 1901,Serial No. 54,328, and renewed the 2d day of January, 1902, Serial No.88,042, Letters Patent No. 706,128, dated the 5th day of August, 1902.lts feay tures of construction comprise a preferred upright or stackform, with three diameters at successive heights, as shown in Figs. 1and 2; a round (or equivalent) shape in cross-section, as represented byFigs. 3 and 4, with horizontal shoulders 1 and 2, connecting the base a,body b, and dome c; an iron shell 3 common to all; a chamberedrefractory lining 4, of firebrick or its equivalent, extending upward toa suflcient extent above the top of said body stuffing-boxes 5 indiametrically opposite pairs on said shell 8, through which insulatedconductors CZ, e, f, and g extend into the furnace able insulation 6between said shell 3 and lining 4 throughout; a central working chamber7 within said base a; a commodious feeding-chamber 8, extendingdownwardly to the working chamber and in free communication therewith;an inlet /t to said feeding-cham ber through said dome c; spaces 9, 10,1l, and 12, concentric with said feeding and working chambers and witheach other within the refractory lining of the walls; hoppers z' and j,Fig. y2, upon said shoulders 1 and 2, respectively, provided with plugs18, 14, 15, and 16, which respectively open and close the inlets intosaid spaces 9, 10, 11, and 12 for the admission of fusible material fora given reaction or reduction; a cap 7c, Fig. 1, to open and close saidinlet t for an infusible or less fusible material for the reaction orreduction, and an outlet Z, leading from said dome c, for the dischargeof gaseous material. The lower shoulder 1 of the furnace is furtherprovided with lioppers m, Fig. 1, above the several stung-boxes 5,provided with plugs 17 for the admission of fragmentary conductivematerial adapted to constitute self-renewing electrodes in the workingfurnace, as represented at D and E, Fig. 1, and passages n extenddownwardly from such inlets within the brickwork of the base of thefurnace. Conduits o, (shown in detail by Figs. 5 and 6,)constructed ofconductive material, are arranged in continuation of said passages nwithin the brickwork of the base and electrically attached, as in Fig.5, to the several conductors d, @,f, and g. Each of these conduits ispreferably composed of a trough-shaped casting 18, Fig. 5, of suitablemetal, forming back and side walls, and a lining 19, Fig. 5, of carbonbrick, and is furthermore preferably constructed with the lower part 20,Fig. 6, of its back wall and the lining thereof at an angle to retardthe descent of the fragmentary conductive material through the conduitand to direct the same lOO ITO

inwardly toward the middle of the working chamber, the several conduitsbeing arranged at the sides of' the furnace, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3,and preferably with the upper portions of their back walls slightlyinclined inward, as in Fig'. 1.

'I o prevent or resist the passage of the electric current directly fromside to side of the furnace or to aid in thus confining' the current tothe electrodes at this point, protective walls q, Figs. l, 2, and 3 andFig. 5, of nonconductive material, such as fire-brick, are interposedbetween the several conduits and the middle of the furnace and arepreferably and conveniently directly superposed, so as to bridge theopen side of each conduit, as in Fig. 5, from its upper end, where theelectric conductor is attached to its back to the upper limit of itsoutlet, where the face of the conduit recodes, as shown at21 in Fig. 6,to conformit to the preferred spheroidal shape of the working chamber.(Compare Fig. 1.) Feeding themselves by gravity, the electrodesD Edescend into the bottom of the working chamber from the outlets of saidconduits o and flow toward each other, as represented in Fig. 1, beingnaturally thinnest where they come together, and thus affording' thenecessary resistance at this point to convert the electricity into heat.The heat zone of the furnace is thus located at the bottom. To providefor further protection to the several conduits 0 and for the regulationor control of the operation of the furnace without interfering with thecontinuity of such operation, feed-pipes t', Fig. 1, are mounted on saidlower shoulder 1 of the furnace between the last-mentioned hoppers m andthe body I), and passages t are formed in the shoulder portion of theiron shell and in the brickwork of the base c, leading from said pipes sinto the working chamber 7, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Either conductiveor non-conductive material of any suitable kind that will feed throughsaid pipes .s or their equivalent may be supplied thereto and fed bygravity through said passages t into the working chamber immediately infront of each or any of the electrodes at will. Such supplementalmaterial is represented at C in Fig. 1.

The carbon, such as charcoal or coke, and the crushed sulfur for thebisulfid-of-carbon reaction are represented, respectively, at A and B inFig. 1, the former as descending within said feeding-chamber 8 and thelatter as filling the innermost, 12, of' said spaces within thebrickwork of the furnace-walls. The introduction of the carbon into theworking furnace is conveniently facilitated by a hopper u and bell 'nwithin the dome c above said gas-outlet Z. The crushed sulfur introducedinto any or all of said spaces 9, 10, 11, and 12 is fused therein byheat of the furnace that would otherwise be lost by radiation, suchspaces surrounding the working chamber 7, as in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, anddescends by gravity toward the heat Zone, where it is vaporiZedsimultaneously with the heating of the carbon, and the reaction is thuscontinuously effected. The two outer spaces 9 and 10 preferablydischarge into the working chamber in the plane of the heat zone throughducts 22, Figs. 2 and t, and the two inner spaces 11 and 12 dischargeabove the heat Zone at different heights through outlets 23 and 24, Fig.2, arranged in different vertical planes,so that the fused sulfur mayrun down the inner walls of the'furnace toward the heat Zone in separatestreams,and thus distribute its coolingand prelfused by a sufficientcurrent therethrough, and

other like difficultly-fusible matter may be fused in like manner. Altap-hole Figs. 1, 3, and il, normally closed by a stopper e, providesfor periodically discharging such fused residue or product. Suchtap-hole w may preferably be arranged in a different plane instead ofbeneath one of the electric conductors, where it is shown forconvenience of illustration. The furnace may be square or of other shapein cross-section. The spaces 9, 10, 11, and 12 within the walls may beincreased or reduced in number. There may be but one pair of electrodesor more than two` pairs, and other like modifications of the furnacewill suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

In a previous specification, forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,117,dated the 10th day of June, 1902, i set forth and claim an improvementin methods of producing chemicals in electric furnaces, one feature ofwhich consists in passing a suitable electric current through the chargeby means of relatively permanent electrodes, continuously feeding uponsuch electrodes and between the same and the charge fragmentaryconducting material and regulating the electric current by means of suchfragmentary material. In that process the fragmentary conductivematerial is inert and functionless apart from the relatively permanentelectrodes which it serves to supplement. In the present process suchrelatively permanent electrodes are wholly dispensed with and theelectric current is passed through the charge by means of thefragmentary conductive material, which itself in this process formsself-renewing' electrodes within the furnace. Moreover, in theproduction of bisulfid of carbon by said patented process the sulfur isfed upwardly to the heat zone within the working chamber and therevaporiZed, the carbon is fed downwardly upon the sulfur, and thefragmentary conductive material is introduced between the two. In

the present process the fragmentary conductive material is fed into thebottom or hearth of the working chamber and the sulfur is or IOO IIO

may be introduced wholly above the heat zone so located.

Thel present invention consists exclusively in the within-describednovel methods of constituting self-renewing electrodes, of continuouslyeffecting reactions and reductions by means of such electrodes, and,specifically, of making bisulfid of carbon by means of such electrodes,as hereinafter claimed.

The method of fusing the residue from the carbon and ,sulfur and likediiiicultly-fusible matter within the furnace and periodicallydischarging such fused'residue or product is hereby disclaimed in favorof my specification forming part of a divisional application filed the9th day of June, 1902, Serial No. 110,899.

The furnace as a machine or apparatus, with every novel feature thereof,is hereby disclaimed in favor of said companion specification formingpart of said renewed application, Serial No. 88,042.

Having thus described said improvement, 1 claim as my invention anddesire to patent under this specitication l. The method of operating anelectric furnace which consists in introducing into the furnace at therespective sides of a charge streams of fragmentary conductive materialadapted to serve as electrodes,feeding such streams downwardly into thebottom of the working chamber of the furnace and toward each other, andpassing a suitable electric current through the charge by way of saidfragmentary conductive other by gravity,feeding downwardly between andupon such electrodes material for a given reaction or reduction, andpassing a suitable electric current through the charge by way of saidfragmentary conductive material.

8. The method of making bisuliid of carbon in an electric furnace whichconsists in continuously charging the furnace from above with a suitableform vof carbon and with crushed sulfur, continuously feeding into theworking chamber of the furnace at the sides of the charge and downwardlyintothe bottom of said working chamber fragmentary conductive materialadapted to constitute selfrenewing electrodes in the working furnace,passing through the charge by way of said fragmentary conductivematerial a suitable electric current, thereby heating the carbon andvaporizing the sulfur, and continuously removing the bisuliid vapor,substantially as hereinbefore specified.

4. The method of making bisulfid of carbon in an electric furnace whichconsists in continuously charging the furnace from above with a suitableform of carbon and with crushed sulfur, continuously feeding into theworking chamber of the furnace at the sides of the charge and downwardlyinto the bottom of said working chamber fragmentary conductive materialadapted to constitute selfrenewing electrodes in the working furnace,passing through the charge by way of said fragmentary conductivematerial a suitable electric current, thereby heating the carbon andvaporizing the sulfur, melting a portion of the sulfur outside of theworking chamber and feeding the same downward in contact with the wallsof said working chamber, and continuously removing the bisuliid vapor,substantially as hereinbefore specified.

EDWARD R. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

M. F. HoBART, O. M. HoBAR'r.

